Country Singer Tyler Rich Recounts Discovering Dead Body During New Year’s Eve Jog

Country singer Tyler Rich closed out his 2020 with a harrowing experience he won’t soon forget, but be believes it was meant to happen.

After finding a dead body while on a jog earlier in the day on New Year’s Eve, “The Difference” singer has since updated his fan that he has spoken with the young man’s mother, sharing an unexpected connection through time.

“Not the way I planned on closing out 2020,” Rich initially posted on Saturday. “My heart breaks for this poor young man.”

He went on to add that it would be an image and moment that he would never forget.

Originally thinking he was seeing a homeless man asleep, Rich admits he at first simply ran by. “After running around him, I felt bad for him, he was sleeping facedown and just looked like he was in a bad place,” Rich recalled. “So I turned around and went back to check on him.”

It was in this moment that Rich realized the man wasn’t breathing but instead appeared to be the victim of either a gunshot or blunt force. After tracking down a couple with a phone, Rich was able to get help for the victim.

“This young man looked like maybe 18-25,” Rich suspected. “His skin was still white, didn’t look like it happened too long before I got there.”

After authorities found a gun in the man’s possession, they began to theorize it might be suicide, which Rich found unexpectedly comforting.

“For sure knowing he wasn’t there discarded by someone else, and that he was where he wanted to be, will at least put me a little more at ease,” he wrote.

Confirming that a body had been found in Chicopee Memorial Start Park on New Year’s Eve, the local Hampden DA’s office told Western Mass News, “There is no threat to public safety related to this incident which does not appear criminal in nature.”

At the time of discovery, Rich wondered about the young man’s family wondering where he was, but he’s since connected with that family himself. In a subsequent post, Rich shared that he’d spoken with the man’s mother sharing an unexpected and deeply meaningful series of numbers for him.

He took note of his average pace at the time he had stopped, which was 11:11, taking it as a good omen. After he spoke to the man’s mother, he discovered that the last text she received from her son was sent at 11:11, with Rich finding him just 45 minutes later.

He shared that he’s come to believe he was in that “random part of the park at the exactly time [he] was supposed to be, to find that young man.”

“I truly believe his spirit led me down that random side of the mountain to find him,” Rich shared. “They say when you see 11:11, that angels are with you, and to wish for whatever you want. To feel at ease. That is the universe at your side.”

Perhaps even more poignant for Rich’s fans, he has a song entitled “11:11” which deals specifically with loss.

“So anytime I see those numbers, it resonates with me,” he wrote. “This specific series of little events is somehow bringing comfort to his family, and to myself.”

In his follow-up post, Rich reached out to his own fans and followers, offering his ear and support to anyone struggling with thoughts of self-harm. “Community is so important, remember to tell people how much you love them, and remember to talk to someone, anyone, when you are feeling lost and alone, cause you’re not,” he wrote.